Sunlit
by LuxaLovesLawnmowers
Summary: Paton, holed up in his room, is interrupted by his sister and his young nephew's arguing. Maybe helping out wouldn't be too bad for once.


Disclaimer- I don't own Charlie Bone.

I'm getting back into Charlie Bone and I rediscovered my love for Uncle Paton(no, I'm not ten, I'm fourteen! I hope you enjoy.

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Paton Yewbeam scratched his head with his pen absently. He could hear Grizelda yelling at someone from all the way up in his bedroom and scowled. Would she ever learn? She was constantly disrupting his work with her screams.

He crossed out a line on the page he was working on and grimaced. He wasn't getting any work done. Poking his head out his door, he shouted, "What are you on about now?"

Grizelda turned to glare at him. "It's none of your business, Paton."

"Now, I won't know that until I hear what's going on?"

Paton noticed now that Charlie was peeking out from behind Grizelda's long, ugly, skirt. How old was he now? Six? Seven?

"This horrible boy brought in a toad."

"A toad. Why would he do that?" Paton smiled and noticed that little boys were much littler than he remembered. Maybe he was taller than he thought.

Charlie's lip stuck out in defiance of his grandmother. "A bird was about to eat it. I couldn't let him get eaten."

Grizelda scowled. "You could have. Most normal people would have."

"Calm down, sister," said Paton, putting his hand on Charlie's head as he fully emerged from his room, hitting his head on the doorframe. Ok, so maybe he _was_ tall. "He's just a boy. How old are you now?"

"Eight."

Eight! By Jove, when was the last time he'd gone outside?

"Where's your mother?"

"Working. Maisie's just gone to the store."

"I guess I'll just have to watch you to make sure you don't bring in any more toads, huh?" Paton chuckled and Grizelda gave him a look that could've frozen polar bears.

"What do you think you're getting out of this?" asked Grizelda irritably.

"Company for twenty minutes, that's all."

Grizelda stormed off to her room. Ah, blessed silence.

Paton lowered his eyes as they went down to the kitchen, reaching for the light switch immediately.

"Why'd you do that?" asked Charlie curiously.

"I prefer the dark." said Paton, not completely lying.

"Oh. Why?"

Were kids always this curious? "I suppose you could say it's a habit."

"Oh. Do you want to see the toad?"

He wasn't expecting that. "You still have it?"

"I hid it. Wanna see it?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

Paton glanced out the window as he flicked at a piece of lint on his sleeve. It sure was bright outside today. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen it that green.

Charlie returned with the toad, grinning triumphantly. He looked incredibly adorable, with one tooth missing and his hair scruffy. "See? What do you think?"

The toad croaked at him and Paton tentatively reached for it. Charlie skidded backwards.

"Don't touch him! You'll hurt him!"

"I think he'd rather be outside, with his family." said Paton, thinking about what Maisie and Amy would say to the toad's presence.

Charlie pouted. "But I like him."

"He likes you too, but he likes grass more."

Charlie stomped off and surprisingly did what Paton said, releasing him outside. He waited for him to come back in, tapping his foot impatiently. Despite the fact that every moment spent with Charlie was a moment towards his book wasted, he wasn't too upset. He'd volunteered to save Charlie from the clutches of his evil sister.

"Paton!" Maisie entered, looking surprised at his presence. "It's not even close to evening."

Paton shrugged. "Grizelda was terrorizing Charlie. I was watching him until you got back."

"Oh, well, thank you!" Maisie set down his groceries, flustered.

Charlie and Maisie were busy setting things in the cupboards, so Paton quietly slipped away. He went back to his candlelit room with a lighter step, smiling slightly to himself. Who could have guessed that Charlie Bone had Yewbeam blood? He was nicer to be around than a lot of dusty old books. Maybe he'd spend more time with the rest of them.

Paton cracked his knuckles. Well, after this chapter.

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I hope I did Paton justice. I just love his character. Please, tell me what you thought! :)


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